Once considered trash fish, carp now a popular target
When most anglers in this country think of carp, they envision an inhabitant of murky, dirty water that isn't fit to eat. For anglers in other parts of the world, carp is the preferred fish when it comes to sporting and eating.
Phil Durocher, director of inland fisheries for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said the common carp, which is in the minnow family, is able to tolerate unfavorable or even polluted bodies of water more than other species. When the fish overpopulate an area, their habit of churning up the bottom in search of food can decrease the amount of light entering the water, thus hindering plant growth and making the environment less favorable for other game fish.
Despite the negative connotation, Durocher said carp fishing is catching on as more anglers find out that carp are big, strong and easy to catch.
"We found out it's a really growing sport," Durocher said. "There's a big tournament [Texas Carp Challenge) in Austin every year. We have visited with people at the tournament, and Lady Bird Lake [formerly Town Lake] is considered one of the premier trophy carp fisheries in the nation."
The world record carp was caught this year in France and tipped the scales at more than 90 pounds. Texas' biggest common carp was caught in March from Lady Bird Lake and weighed almost 44 pounds, while the largest grass carp was caught in 2006 from Toledo Bend Reservoir and weighed more than 53 pounds.
European largemouths
Mukhtar Farooqi, a TPWD biologist based in San Angelo, spent some of his life in Wales and said European anglers are as gung-ho about carp fishing as American anglers are about pursuing the largemouth bass.
"It's a major fishing industry in England and Europe," Farooqi said. "People spend lots of money on tackle and other things like anglers here do on bass and other sport fish. It's definitely at the point where you've gotten past some of the stereotypes and negativity that has held it back in the past. Once you get past that, you can look at it for the sporting or other values."
Farooqi and Durocher have briefed the TPWD Commission in the past about carp and the need to explore all angling pursuits of the fish.
"We've basically been responding to carp angling groups in Texas," Farooqi said. "Where they've held events or tried to help the sport, we've tried to join in. We see it as the promotion of fishing in general. There have been carp fishing clinics and other collaborative efforts like that. We've done interviews with anglers about carp fishing preferences and how much money they spend as far as the economic impact."
Carp techniques
Fishing for carp doesn't require a great investment of time or money, though some anglers, especially in Europe, will spends thousands of dollars on everything from electronic strike indicators to multi-rod setups. Bank fishing is standard and bait can be anything from dough balls to corn, which can simply be stuck on a bare hook. Some serious anglers have their own secret bait concoction, which they wouldn't share with their own mother.
Many fly fishers also have discovered carp can be a blast to catch on a lightweight rod.
Though carp have been kept in the dark in the past, there's no reason to think anglers in this country and abroad won't continue to chase after the fish. They can make a reel sing, and that's all that really matters to most anglers.
Will Leschper's e-mail address is wleschper@yahoo.com.
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